Soldier dies in road bomb blast

A British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb and three others were wounded in Iraq yesterday. They were in an armoured personnel carrier three miles south-east of Basra when the device was detonated.

An Army spokesman said: "Four soldiers were injured initially. They were extracted to a medical facility and one of the soldiers sadly died whilst they were having medical treatment."

The number of UK service personnel who have died in Iraq since the start of hostilities is now 132. Of those, 101 died in action. The others were accidents or linked to natural causes, illness, remain unexplained, or are still being investigated. Acting Chief Petty Officer Simon Roger Owen, 38, died of natural causes on HMS Chatham in 2004 while in the Gulf.